The Prayer And Passion Of Nehemiah

The prayer and passion of Nehemiah

Nehemiah 1:1-11

Introduction-

Well Good Morning, Let me be one the first to say Happy Mother’s Day.

I hope that you have a blessed day and it is a day filled with the goodness of God.

I hope that you have come with an open heart and ready to hear God’s Word.

I think it is a privilege to be behind this pulpit and in your home at this time.

Would you bow your head as we ask the Lord to speak to us.

Prayer-

Father, today will you create a clean heart in us O God. Today Father, as we celebrate Mothers day would you speak to all of us. For those that have Mothers still with us, would you have us call them today and express how much we appreciate them. For those that have lost a Mother, may the memories be an encouragement, may you fill us with the comfort and peace of God.

Today may each one of us be reminded on how much you love us and desire to be in our lives.

Like the prophet Nehemiah, may each of us call out to you so we can experience your compassion and your love. In Jesus Name Amen.

We are going to be looking at the book of Nehemiah in a moment- Nehemiah is in the Old Testament between Ezra and Esther if you want to begin finding it.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are testimonies of God’s grace and renewal.

They both tell a story of restoration.

Ezra a priest and Nehemiah a prophet share hope of starting over.

Anyone need a do over this morning?

In golf it is called a mulligan- it is a do over as if it never happened and you won’t be penalized for it.

I could use that at times- (don’t get too spiritual on me!)

Nehemiah tells each generation a story so that they can benefit hearing what happen.

Knowing the past so you know what to do with the future.

If you don’t know what Jesus did for you, how can you accept and believe what He did for you?

Last week, my wife Becky put out a challenge to our church people and those that listen to us on social media. She challenged us to write down things that the lord has done for us and send them to the church so we can put together a booklet that would be a reminder of His great love for us. (If you haven’t done it yet, please do)

That is called a testimony.

A testimony is writing or speaking what God has done for you and allowing it to be a blessing to others who have gone through or will go through some tough times.

Illustration-

One testimony came in this week from a lady that was involved in my first church when I was a youth pastor over 25 years ago. We see each other about once a year and have remained very good friends even though we cannot see each other as often as we would like.

She tells of a time that happened about a year ago when after church, they decided to go home and not go out for lunch which was normally what they did.

She was at home on the phone with a friend and her husband was in his office. She heard him yell for her and went to see what was wrong and learned very quick that he was in trouble.

His words were slurred, and he was having trouble breathing, being a nurse, she knew what to do… she was on the phone with the prayer chain leader of her church, she asked for prayer and then quickly called 911.

She laid him down, prayed over him and called her other friend which was a person from our church to pray. The person she called is one of our board members and we were in a board meeting and we stopped the meeting and began praying for him.

Ambulance arrived in less than 10 minutes and they soon knew he needed to be life flight to the hospital.

One artery blocked 100 % and the widow maker artery needing a stunt.

24-36 hours later, he is heading home and recovering.

She knew the peace of God through this trial and she knew that God was in control.

Here’s what makes it a testimony

They went home instead of out to eat

She was a nurse who knew what to do and when to do it

She was on the phone with her prayer chain leader

She called a friend who was in a board meeting with other believers to pray

He got the needed treatment and prayer to recover.

This is no coincidence- it was the provisions of God